Article treating apparatus



June 1l, 1946. c. E. HANs'l-:N

ARTICLE TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 28, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 11, 1946. Q E, HANSEN 2,401,930

ARTICLE TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 28, 1944 2 sheets-sheet 2 Afro/w47 Pa'iented June 11, 1946 ARTICLE TREATIN G APPARATUS Carl E. Hansen, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of'NewYork Application April. 28, 1944,l Serial` No. 533,229

7 Claims.

This invention relates to article treating apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for treating articles for preventing oxidation thereof during partial cooling after being heated to a high temperature,

The invention has been found particularly useful in a sealing-in operation Qn metal type vacuum tubes, as effected on an intermittently operated' automatic machine. Heretofore, in the manufacture of such tubes, during whicha metal envelope is sealed by solder to another metal .portion of thetube, vby the application vof a high temperature flame to the envelope, the practice has been in some instances, upon completing the sealing-in operation and the coolingvof. the tube parts, and their removal from the machine, to manually wire-brush the tube parts to, remove the'colatingA of scale or. oxide formed thereon. This operation is expensive, tedious and quite unsatisfactory.

An objectv of the present invention is to provide a simple and -practicable arrangement and apparatus for use on the above type of machine for preventing the forming of scale or oxide on the hereinbefore-mentioned envelopes during the manufacture of vacuum tubes.

In accordance with the above object, this invention contemplates, in one embodiment thereof, as applied to the above-referred-to type of machine, an apparatus at one of the index stations which comprises an inverted pivotally mounted cup-shaped member, to the upper endV Wall of which is connected a supply. of illuminating gas, which is continually slowly burning therein. As each vacuum tube part, with. its envelope sealed thereto, after leaving an index station where it was subjected to a high temperature ame stops under the cup-shaped memberat the deoxidizing station, it is automatically lowered to surround the heated envelope with the flame therein, which is of a much lower temperature than that of the flame previously applied thereto in the sealing-in operation. Thus, the oxygen surrounding the heated envelope is consumed by the flame while the part is cooling and the formation of a coating of, scale or-oxide thereon is. substantially prevented.

An alternative embodiment of the apparatus comprises a Afixedinverted cup-shaped member at the deoxidizing station connected to an illuminating gas supply in the manner of the abovedescribed movable member. and provided with hingeddoors at opposite sidesy thereof, which are opened by the advancing. tube, the. first door` closing after the. tube is .Within the member and vthe second door being opened by the tube adline 21g-Z of Fig. 1, the deoxldizing member being shown in its upper inoperative position;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary View similar t0 Fig. 2, partly insection, the deoxidizing member ybeingr shawn Vin its lowered'operative position 1 4 is a fragmentary plan viewsimilar to Fig. I

1 showinf an alternative embodiment 'of thefde- Oxidzmmmbe an@ Fig. 5A isan enlarged fragmentary verticalsection taken. onv the line 5.45, of.r 4,

Although not'limited thereto., V.the apparatus embodyingthefeatures of the invention may be employed to advantage for sealingmetal parts of .a metal vacuum tube,.indicated in generalat Ill. (Figs. 2 and 3v) As shown inFig, 3, such parts may comprise a metal shell I. Ito.wl1ichjis circularly joined or sealed, bymeans of a ring of solder I2, a surrounding. inverted circular cuplike metal envelope I3 of varying. diameter.

Referring to the drawings .in detail and particularll7 to Figs. 1 and 2, one embodiment of the invention, indicated in general at S20, ispreferably mounted on an intermittently operated automaticv machine, which isbasically a Charles Eisler .type sealing machine, such as is disclosed in U. S..Pat ent No. 2,063,235-.of- December 8, 1936. Such an automatic machine. includes a rotatable turret or carrier 2l carrying a plurality of circularly arrangedH devices or heads-22 rotatably mounted in vbearings 23 adjacent the. periphery of the car-l rier, for supporting, the-vacuum tube parts during the heating, sealing, deoxidizing and coolingthereof. Any suitable mechanism (not shown) may be provided for effecting an intermittent rotary motion to the carrier 2l, whereby the several devicesY 22 are advanced, step by step, past operatorsv located at certain positions aroundthe carrier to load the. parts I I and I3 on the dev vice and. remove the completed. assemblage therefrom'. Mechanism is also includedv in the machine whereby during the intermittent advance of the devices 22 with the carrier 2I and during ed have been omitted from this disclosure for the sake of simplicity, since a full disclosure thereof is not essential to a completeu-n derstand-` ing of the present invention. l

Each of the devices 22 (Fig- Y2) 'comprises a shouldered non-reciprocatory shaft 23 rotatably* journalled in the bearing 23 and having fixedv thereto at its lower end a friction .gear 29.v The gear 29 meshes with a driving friction gear 3l. V; shown fragmentarily, which is constantly drivenY in the operation of the machine except during the dwell periods of the device 22 at the loading and removal stations; An upper end face 3l of the shaft 28 serves 'as a seat for the tube shell I I and an annular face 32 on the shaft provides a seat'for the tube envelope I3. A pair of diametrically opposite rockable clamping fingers 35 are fixed to the upper ends of members 36 pivoted at their lower ends, as indicated at 31, to slottedportions of a flanged'collar 38 connected to the rotary non-reciprocatory shaft 28 by a pinand `slot connection 39, wherebythe collar 30 38 may slide up and down on the shaft simultaneously withV kits rotation therewith.- YIntermediate their ends,.the members 35 are formed with cam slots 42-,"through which extend pins:

43 securedeinlanv enlargement 44 of :the shaft 28. A compression spring 45, having itsopposite ends abutting the 'collar 38 andthe enlargement 44 of the sha-ft 28 normally maintains the kcollar 38 in its lowered position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, in whichy position'the rockable clamping fingers 35 are in -their operative positions,holding -a-tube envelope I3 on its seat 32. -Inthe bodilyirotation of the device 22 with the rotating carrier ZI in the direction of the arrow (Figui), and in timed relation to its arrival at theremoval station 21,

a lower .annular face 45 of the collar 38 yridesup a stationary arc-shaped cam member 49 extendi ing between .the Vremoval andv loading vstations 21 and. 26, respectively; cam member 49V causes-the-collar 38 to beelevated .and through the cam slots 42 and pins 43, the clamping ngers thestation 25. and its advance therefrom, theface 45 of the collar 38 rides off the cam member 45, whereupon the clamping ngersli are caused tomove downwardV and .inward to the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to clamp the tube parts to the device. At astation`50 in advance of a deoxidizing station l are arranged gas burners 52, thehigh temperature ames from which, when the device 22 is stopped thereat, areplayed upon the peripheral face of the rotating tube envelope I3, particularly at the point where the solder ring I2 is located, and thus the solder ring melts and, the tube shell I I and envelope I3 are sealed together. Y

(At the station 5l is arranged the deoxidizing apparatus 20, which comprises an inverted cup` shaped member 53 having a radially extending integral angular shaped arm 55, which vis pivoted intermediate itsV ends at 51, to a standardY 58,

secured tothe upper face of a stationary frame 59 of the sealing-in machine. The member 53 is so arranged relativeto the station 5I that upon pivotal movement from its inoperative position (Fig. 2) to its operative position (Fig. 3), it will 5 completely and freely surround the tube envelope I3 carried by the device 22 when it is advanced and vstops at the station. In order that the cupshaped member 53 may bel automatically moved to such operative position in timed relation to the -logarrival of the tube envelope I3 at the station 5I, ka vertical shaft 60 of the machine operating at a lnxed position, shown in dotted outline in Fig. 1, carries a circular cam member having a 'suitably shaped cam face 63 on which constantly 151` rides one end of a lever 64 pivoted at 65 to a stationary portion 66 of the machine. The opposite end of thelever 64 is pivotally connected at 1 61 y(Fig.v 2) to a reciprocable plunger shaft I0 axially aligned with the station 5I and having a bearingin the frame 59. lEngaging the upper end of the shaft III is one end of a lever 1I Ypivoted at 12 to the standard 58, `the opposite end of the lever being pivoted at 13 to one end of alink 14,

a which is pivoted at I5 to the outer end 56 of the cup-shaped member 53. A tension spring 'I'connected at opposite ends to pins 11 and 18 xed to the standard 58 and link 14 is effective to maintain the leverll in constant engagement with pH-the reciprocable plunger shaft 10 and thus as the. shaft is lowered through the cooperating Arotatingcam face 63 and the lever 64, the latter being connected to the shaft, the link 14 is raised, as viewed in Fig. 1, and the cup-shaped member 53 rocked aboutits pivot 51 and lowered to the position shown in Fig. 3. In the same manner as'theshaftl is raised, the cup-shapedfmem-A ber 53 will be moved from its operated `position (Figf) to its inoperated position (Fig, 2),.

...g Tothe upper end wall of the cup-,shaped mem-AA ber 53 and communicating with the interiorthereof isp'conneted a nexibietu'be al fopsuppiymg, froma source not shown, ajsuitableinammable gaszwhich, in the operation of the sealing-in machine, isl continually `in flame and completely lling the interior ofthe member 53,'such flame being of `relatively low temperature compared to that provided by the gas Aburners'52."'The Vgas used may be ordinary illuminating gas and it the inverted member 53 andvmixes with the air.` Thusunoxious gases are prevented from enten=v ing the room and a Vdeoxidizing atmosphere-is provided within the inverted member.

In the operation ofy the intermittently operated automatic machine of the type referred to hereinbefore, and to which thev vdescribed deoxidi'zing device'ZU of this invention is applied, 'each tube part carrying'device 22 intermittently advances `from the removal station 271 vand dwells at the loading station 26 fora predetermined period,

during which the tube parts II yand I3 and the ring of solder I2 are assembledV in the manner previously described thereon and as the device advances from the station 26, the tube envelope I3 is automatically clamped inposition thereon 'by the fingers 35 in the manner previously,V

axis. VAs each rotating tube assemblagedwells at the heating station 50 forA a predetermined pemdthe tube envelope kIris subjected, in the desired area, to high temperature gas flames fromA the burners 52 suicient to melt the ring of solder I2 and thus seal the tube envelope to the tube described and lcaused to rotate about its Yown tion 5|. In timed relation thereto, the rotating shaft '60 carrying the cam face 63 causes the plunger shaft 'l0 to be lowered and through the spring 16 the cup-shaped member 53 with the low temperature flame therein is automatically lowered to the position shown in Fig. 3 to completely surround the rotating and heated tube parts. After the tube parts have been in the presence of the flame at the station 5l for a predetermined period, the cup-shaped member 53 is automatically elevated to the position shown in Fig. 2 by the action of the cam face 63 on the plunger shaft 10, which is raised, and the device 2'2 is then advanced toward the removal station 21.

Immediately upon leaving the heating station 50 and While at the station 5I, it will be understood that the tube parts begin to cool in the presence of the surrounding low temperature flame which consumes all oxygen during such cooling and thus substantially prevents the forming of a coating of scale or oxide upon the surfaces of the tube parts. In their subsequent intermittent advance to the removal station 2l, further cooling of the parts takes place.

An alternative embodiment of a deoxidizing device, effective in a manner similar to the above described deoxidizing device, is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, which comprises a stationary inverted irregular shaped hood 82 arranged at the station 5I and secured to a standard 83, in turn fixed to the machine frame 59. The interior of the hood 82 is supplied through a tube 84 with an inflammable gas, which is continually in flame to surround the tube parts as they dwell at the station 5I. Opposite ends of the hood 82 are provided with swinging doors 85 and 86 horizontally hinged, as indicated at l81 (Fig. 5) to permit the entrance and exit of the device 22 with the tube parts into and from the hood. The entering heated tube parts engage the door 85 and swing it inwardly and as the tube parts come to a stop, the door swings back to its closed position. Upon leaving the hood 82, after being subjected to the deoxidizing flame therein, the tube parts engage. the door 86 and swing it outwardly and as the tube parts disengage the door, it swings back tol its closed position.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for sealing one metal part to another comprising means for applying a high temperature directly to one of the parts to seal the parts, a movable carrier for advancing the assembled parts to said temperature applying means, inverted suspended hollow means spaced from said carrier and adapted to receive the parts upon advance of said carrierthereto, and means for supplying an inflammable gas to the interior of said hollow means for enveloping the parts in a flame of a low temperature during cooling of the parts eifective to substantially prevent the forming of oxide on the parts.

2. An apparatus for sealing one metal part to another comprising means for applying a high temperature directly to one of the parts to seal the parts, a bodily movable rotatable carrier for advancing the assembled parts to said temperature applying means and rotating them thereat, a' movable inverted hollow means suspended and mounted for movement from an inoperative to an operative position for receiving the parts upon advance of said carrier into alignment therewith, means for supplying an inilammable gas to the interior of said hollow means for enveloping the parts in a flame of a low temperature during cooling of the part effective to substantially prevent the forming of oxide on the parts, and means for actuating said hollow means.

3. An apparatus for treating metal parts comprising a movable carrier for parts, means for moving said carrier, a plurality of work stations along the path of said carrier, means for heating the parts to a high temperature at one of said stations, suspended movable hollow means spaced from said carrier at a subsequent station for receiving the parts when aligned therewith, means for supplying a deoxidizing atmosphere to the interior of said hollow means to envelope the parts, and means controlled by the movement of said carrier for actuating said hollow means.

4. An apparatus for treating metal parts comprising a movable carrier for parts, means for moving said carrier, a plurality of work stations along the path of said carrier, means for heating the parts to a high temperature at one of said stations, suspended movable hollow means spaced .from said carrier at a subsequent station for receiving the parts when aligned therewith, means for supplying a deoxidizing atmosphere to the interior of said hollow means to envelope the parts, and means operable in timed relation to the arrival of the heated parts at said subsequent station for actuating said hollofw means.

5. An apparatus for sealing metal parts comprising a movable carrier for parts, means for moving said carrier, a plurality of work stations along the path of said carrier, means for heating the parts to a high temperature at one of said stations, a pivotal inverted hollow means at a subsequent station adapted to be moved to surround the parts when aligned therewith, means connected to said hollow means for continuously supplying an inflammable gas to the interior thereof for enveloping the parts in a slowly burning name of a low temperature to substantially prevent the forming of oxide on the parts, and means controlled by the movement of said carrier for actuating said hollow means.

6. An apparatus for treating metal parts comprising an intermittently movable carrier :for parts, means for moving said carrier, a plurality of work stations along the path of said carrier, means for heating the parts to a high temperature at one of said stations, a pivotal inverted cup-shaped member spaced from said carrier at a subsequent station adapted to be rocked to surround the parts when aligned therewith, means for supplying a deoxidizing atmosphere to the interior of said member to envelope the parts, and means operable in timed relation to the arrival of the heated parts at said subsequent station for actuating said cup-shaped member.

'1. An apparatus for treating metal parts comprising a movable carrier for parts, a plurality of Work stations along the path of said carrier, means for heating the parts to a high temperature at one of said stations, a suspended stationary inverted hollow member spaced from said carrier at a subsequent station having openings in opposite ends for the entrance and exit of the parts in the advance of said carrier, closure elements in said openings for normally closing said openings actuated by the engagement of the parts therewith in entering and leaving said member, and means for supplying a deoxidizing atmosphere to the interior of said member to envelope the parts.

CARL E. HANSEN. 

